An authentic English pub hotel serves up six just-renovated rooms for overnight guests.

By Katie Bowman, Tuesday, Aug 24, 2010, 12:00 AM

Village Pub

About this Hotel

Price From $140

Located in the Cotswold Hills town of Barnsley, the 300-year-old Village Pub (reopened in December by the owners of the nearby Calcot Manor luxury hotel and spa) seems lifted from the pages of The Canterbury Tales, with its stone walls, gnarled wood beams, and perpetually burning fireplace. It's the rare English country tavern that actually still draws a local crowd. In the kitchen, head chef (and Le Caprice alum) Graham Grafton elevates traditional pub fare with locally sourced seasonal ingredients. The Great Farm roasted chicken, for instance, comes from a free-range operation eight miles to the southeast and is served with watercress harvested from the gardens of the neigh-boring Barnsley House Hotel. And at the bar, the favored ale is Butcombe Bitter, brewed in Wrington, an hour and a half away. Out-of-towners are made to feel right at home in one of the six guest rooms upstairs, all built into the eaves and some outfitted with four-poster beds.